Follow the author of this article

Follow the topics within this article

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen is set to take a starring role in the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics tonight. Gisele- she's a member of the breed so famous that they can be easily identified by their first name- landed in her home country this week with her children Benjamin, 6, and Vivian Lake,3, leaving her husband- the American football star Tom Brady to celebrate his birthday alone. Now that's true dedication to the Olympic cause.

So as she gears up to represent Brazil in front of an expected 900 million viewers globally, here are some clever facts to drop while you're watching...

She's the highest earning supermodel in the world

Credit:
Instagram:GiseleBundchen

Gisele outperformed her closest rival in the earning stakes by an enormous $35 million earning $44 million to Cara Delevingne's $9 million in 2015 alone. It was her ninth year at the top earning spot, so little wonder her fortune is estimated to total $336 million. The 36 year-old supermodel is keen to play down her wealth though, and told The Wall Street Journal "who are they speaking to when they come up with these numbers? Not my accountant that's for sure."

Nevertheless, thanks to lucrative contracts with the likes of Chanel, Givenchy and Brazilian behemoth Colcci, Gisele's face is still one of the most recognised in the world.

She revolutionised the fashion industry, hailing a return to curves

Credit:
Instagram:GiseleBundchen

Gisele arrived on the modelling scene in the late 90s when the look-du-jour was all pale and waif-like, an aesthetic which had been branded 'heroin chic'. With her more curvaceous proportions and athletic look, Gisele offered an entirely new look which proved to be a turning point in fashion and was celebrated with countless photo shoots which emphasised her curves.

In July 1999, Gisele graced the cover of American Vogue with her glossy hair blowing in the wind, bronzed skin and a girl-next-door grin. The cover line read: "The Return of the Sexy Model." Her look referenced the supermodels of the 80s and early 90s- think Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford with their bouncy blowdries and toned figures- but has also influenced the rise of her fellow Brazilians like Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima today. A true trailblazer.

She was discovered on a school trip- but had done a modelling course before that

Credit:
Instagram:GiseleBundchen

Like all the best models, Gisele has an excellent story of discovery. During a school trip from her home town of Horizontina to Sao Paolo, she was innocently eating a Big Mac when a model agent approached her. It wasn't her first brush with modelling ambitions though. Her mother had sent Gisele and her five sisters (yes, five) on a course to master the basics of the trade a few years before- perhaps that's where she picked up her distinctive catwalk strut.

Her $700 book sold out in a day

Credit:
Instagram:GiseleBundchen

In 2015, Taschen announced the publication of a tome which would chart Gisele's modelling career via a 536-page, carefully-curated selection of images which had been taken of her over the years, to be co-edited by Gisele herself. The book's cover showed Irving Penn's landmark 'Return of the Curve' portrait which had been featured in US Vogue in the early days of her career. 1000 of these special edition books were printed and sold out on pre-orders before the book's official release date.

Her daily yoga routine is legendary

Credit:
Instagram:GiseleBundchen

When it comes to yoga poses on Instagram Gisele Bündchen is the ultimate inspiration, posting endless pictures of her doing headstands on the beach and practicing her daily meditation. Bündchen has previously said about her get up and go attitude: "I'm not a potato sack; I've never sat on my couch. If I'm home, I'm cleaning, feeding my dogs, doing stuff. Life is too precious to waste time."

Her diet is made up of 80% vegetables

Credit:
Instagram:GiseleBundchen

Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady's chef Allen Campbell opened up to Boston.com about just how restrictive their diets are. "Eighty percent of what they eat is vegetables," he explained. "[I buy] the freshest vegetables. If it's not organic, I don't use it. And whole grains: brown rice, quinoa, millet, beans. The other 20 percent is lean meats: grass-fed organic steak, duck every now and then, and chicken. As for fish, I mostly cook wild salmon."

He continues: "No white sugar. No white flour. No MSG. I'll use raw olive oil, but I never cook with olive oil. I only cook with coconut oil. Fats like canola oil turn into trans fats. ... I use Himalayan pink salt as the sodium. I never use iodized salt. "No coffee. No caffeine. No fungus. No dairy. The kids eat fruit. Tom, not so much. He will eat bananas in a smoothie. But otherwise, he prefers not to eat fruits."

Gisele has previously said of her diet: “I haven't drank soda in 10 years. My kids eat what I eat. The first (solid) food my son had was papaya and then avocado.”

She has a twin sister

Gisele with her twin sisterCredit:
Instagram: Gisele

Gisele has five sisters, including a fraternal twin sister named Patricia, who is her manager.

Gisele has made some controversial comments about parenting

Credit:
Instagram: GiseleBundchen

In 2010 the model was criticised for her comments to Harper's Bazaar about breastfeeding. She said: “Some people here think they don’t have to breastfeed, and I think, ‘Are you going to give chemical food to your child, when they are so little?’ There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months.” She also raised eyebrows with her quotes to Vogue about pregnancy: “I did kung fu up until two weeks before Benjamin was born, and yoga three days a week. I think a lot of people get pregnant and decide they can turn into garbage disposals. I was mindful about what I ate, and I gained only 30 pounds.”